Williams Twp. voters appear to reject adding board seats

But proponent of referendum vows to continue fight.

For the third time in 25 years, Williams residents rejected a referendum Tuesday to add two positions to the board of supervisors.

According to unofficial results, about 814 residents voted against the measure and 525 in support with two of four wards reporting.

Kevin Troisi, who petitioned to put the proposal before voters, said even in defeat the referendum sent a message to the board.

"While I'm disappointed with the results, I think this is a clear message to the current supervisors that nearly half the people in the township are not pleased with the current government," Troisi said.

He thanked supporters of the measure, and vowed to continue the fight.

"We're not just going to back down now and say, "Oh well, we lost'," Troisi said. "We see there's a lot of problems, and we'll continue to see what we can do to help turn things around."

The three-person board of supervisors took no official position on the ballot measure.

Troisi and other residents gathered signatures in May, June and July to get the question on the ballot, but the referendum was challenged in August by two residents represented by Thomas Houser, a former township solicitor.

He argued the petition should be invalidated because some signatures did not exactly match the names listed on the county voter registration rolls. But a Northampton County Court judge ruled in September that the referendum could appear on the ballot.

Houser charged that referendum supporters were seeking to "stack" the board to scuttle a proposed expansion of the Chrin Brothers Sanitary Landfill. But Troisi said that was not the case, and that Williams is one of only a few municipalities of its size to have only three supervisors.

Township voters also rejected ballot questions to increase the board of supervisors from three to five in 1983 and 1990.